Abstract
In this prospective trial, 30 patients received Carboflo® grafts and 30 received Exxcel® grafts for hemodialysis access between November 1997 and September 1998. The mean age of the patients was 62 years (range: 28-80 years) and the male to female ratio was 28/32. Eighteen patients were diabetic (30%). All grafts were implanted in the forearm, and 21 grafts were antecubital jump bypass grafts. The average follow-up period was 322 days (range: 24-540 days). Gender, age, incidence of diabetes mellitus, duration of dialysis, previous access surgery, and mode of graft placement did not differ between the Carboflo® group and the Exxcel® group. Complications were thrombotic occlusion (n=5), outflow venous stenosis (n=7), infection (n=3), seroma (n=1), and steal syndrome (n=1). Primary patency rates were 83.0% at 6 months and 79.0% at 12 months in the Carboflo® group, and 75.5% at 6 months and 59.9% at 12 months in the Exxcel® group. Secondary patency rates were 93.1% at 6 and 12 months in the Carboflo® group and 96.6% at 6 months and 88.5% at 12 months in the Exxcel group. The Carboflo® graft showed better primary patency than the Exxcel® graft, but the difference was not significant. Both Carboflo® and Exxcel® grafts showed satisfactory patency in the early postoperative period. However, further follow-up studies are needed to correctly evaluate the performance of the Carboflo® and Exxcel® grafts.
